Chapter 17: Thunderbolt (Part 2)
May 5th, 10:40. The forward command post of the Chinese army inside Taierzhuang.
"Hao Ran, aren't you worried at all?" After an hour of Go with Cheng Jiaji, Xie Hong finally couldn't sit still. He said this sentence while staring straight at him, his legs crossed and sitting comfortably in front of the calm and leisurely Cheng Jiaji, it was clear that General Xie had been wanting to ask this question for a long time.
Xie Hong, the commander-in-chief, now has a considerable number of troops under his command. The troops under the command of the former enemy headquarters are diverse and include: an independent regiment with around 3,000 people; the remnants of the 31st division with about 500 people; a temporary independent regiment composed of non-combat personnel and lightly wounded soldiers from the second group army, with around 800-900 people; the Xu state security command's independent regiment and two battalions, totaling around 1,100 people; a battalion of the war zone garrison troops, which was permitted to participate in the battle by the commander-in-chief, with around 500 people; and an reinforced company brought to the front line by Commander Xie himself, with over 100 people. The various established units under the command of Lin Zong, the commander-in-chief, total more than 6,000 people.
But Xie Hong was clear in his mind that among these troops, the only ones with real combat power were the three thousand men of the Independent Hundred Regiment. The Thirty-first Division, which had been an elite unit of the Northwestern Army, was indeed a powerful force. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for them to fight against the Japanese army at Tai'erzhuang for over ten days and still hold on to one corner of the town. However, at present, the remaining soldiers of the Thirty-first Division were too few, unable to form a cohesive fighting force. As for the other units, they were not combat troops, with little experience in battle, and their combat power was naturally limited.
It's just that the 100th Independent Brigade, although it was formed for a short time. Firstly, there are many old soldiers who have experienced battles in the army as the backbone. Secondly, today's daytime battle with the Japanese army has greatly tempered the troops, and its combat effectiveness is one of the strongest among these troops.
Furthermore, Cheng Jiaji, the legendary young master, performed on the battlefield in a way that was vastly different from what had been rumored. To say nothing of other things, just this afternoon's plan alone would have made Xie Hong look at him with new eyes.
It goes without saying that the night raid operation, which is about to start in 20 minutes, was also planned by Cheng Jiaji. In Xie Hong's view, this young man's military talent is enough to make himself feel a sense of "the waves behind push the waves ahead". (How embarrassing! The night raid was actually a historical event, and Cheng Jiaji just copied it. As for that attack plan, if Cheng Jiaji hadn't read many articles about the Battle of Tai'erzhuang online before and didn't know that the Japanese army's reserve forces were already depleted at that time, he wouldn't have dared to take this risk even if you killed him.)
So before the war, Cheng Jiaji invited him, the commander-in-chief, to play a game of chess. Xie Hong was somewhat unclear about the reason, but still happily agreed.
Xie Hong saw that a big battle was imminent and Cheng Jiaji still had the heart to play chess with himself under the lamp, so he was very puzzled and asked this question.
"Brother Junchen, this time the battle is a night raid. Our army has more than 5,000 troops participating in the battle (except for the remnants of the 31st Division and the battalion of the Constabulary Regiment, all other units will participate in the night raid starting twenty minutes later). Victory is within sight, it's not just empty talk, why should we be overly nervous!"
"Hao Ran, the other side is a Japanese brigade! And at dusk, reinforcements came up." It's no wonder that Xie Hongxin was nervous and uneasy. At that time, the combat effectiveness of a Japanese brigade was generally much stronger than that of a full-strength Chinese division. The current strength of the Chinese army in Zhuangzi was not even as strong as a full-strength division. (Here, a division refers to a local force with two regiments and four battalions, usually with 6-7 thousand people. A Japanese brigade has more than three thousand people.)
To be honest, Xie Hong was not in favor of this night-time initiative. Earlier, he had submitted that grandiose battle plan with Cheng Jiaji for two reasons. On the one hand, he didn't want to lose face in front of his partner Cheng Jiaji. On the other hand, he was certain that the war zone headquarters would not approve this fanciful plan, and he was just going through the motions.
Who would have thought that the commander-in-chief of the war zone had actually agreed in principle to Cheng Aiqiao's plan. And if tonight's night raid is successful, he will agree to let Cheng Jiaqian implement his "great" plan to actively launch a deep strike against the Japanese army tomorrow morning, which seems crazy to Xie Hong.
The war zone officials even prepared two regiments of reinforcements for Cheng Jiaji. This made it even more impossible for Xie Hong to stop Cheng Jiaji's adventurous actions. However, Xie Hong was still worried about the success or failure of tonight's night raid. Although he was only the nominal commander-in-chief in Taierzhuang at present, once Cheng Jiaji's adventurous action failed, he as the former commander-in-chief would also be held accountable.
"Jun Chen, don't listen to the Japanese bragging. A regiment has been fighting for so many days, and during the day, our army beat them up again. At this moment, the remaining people in the 40th Regiment who can hold guns are only about 1,200-1,300 people, and the Japanese should be laughing secretly. Just now, you and I also saw through the telescope that the Japanese reinforcements were only about 300-400 people. I estimate that at this time, there are no more than 1,600 Japanese people in the village. Our army is three times stronger than the enemy, and it's a night raid, so there won't be any unexpected outcome. You can rest assured and wait for the credit."
Actually, Cheng Jiaji was not as confident about this night raid as he claimed. As far as he knew, the Japanese army had defeated Chinese troops two or three times their size at the beginning of the war, which was nothing new. Moreover, this time the Chinese army only had six or seven hours to drive the Japanese out of the village before dawn, when Japanese planes and reinforcements would arrive, rendering all previous efforts useless. Cheng Jiaji did not have a 100% guarantee in his heart about this matter.
But if they didn't launch a night attack, the Chinese army would be even farther from victory.
The daytime battle, the Chinese army indeed had some advantages. Cheng Jiaji was clear in his mind that the reason for the outcome of the daytime battle was because Nagano Yoshio's stupid pig didn't know what kind of madness he had contracted and actually launched a full-scale attack when ammunition was insufficient. On the other hand, it was also because the Chinese army occupied favorable terrain in defensive operations.
If the Japanese army had sufficient ammunition, with the combat effectiveness of this Japanese army seen by Cheng Jiaji in the daytime, under the premise that the two regiments outside Zhuang did not participate in the battle, it was indeed difficult to say whether they could hold the position inside Zhuang.
If it drags on till tomorrow, with six thousand Chinese troops facing off against the Japanese army's one thousand six hundred and seventy ground forces, that would be a sure win. But the Japanese air force is not to be underestimated. With six thousand Chinese troops packed into such a small area, whether it's the Japanese heavy artillery or bombers, if they come at us just once, the Chinese troops in the village will be done for.
It's better to fight at night than to let the Japanese planes and artillery blast us in broad daylight! At least for this nighttime raid, Commander Cheng has more than an 80% chance of victory.
The arrow is already on the bowstring and cannot be withheld from shooting.
As for Cheng Jiaji, how he had the mood to play chess with Xie Hong in the front enemy command at this time, it's actually very simple, he had nowhere else to go.
Cheng Jiaji was still very self-aware, he knew in his heart that when it came to bravery in battle, he was not as good as Wen Songyuan, that big and bold fool. When it came to meticulous thinking, he was not as good as Gao Shiying, that old veteran. When it came to deploying troops and using military tactics, he was not as good as Yu Juncai, that talented graduate of the Central Military Academy. What he relied on was just a bit of passion, a bit of "foresight" gained from reading history books, which was essentially worthless. Even if he went to the front line himself, it would be nothing more than boosting the morale of his troops, but this job had already been done by the commander-in-chief of the war zone. The silver dollars that were as white as flowers were much more useful to his soldiers than any stirring pre-war speech.
As for how to improve the ideological awareness of his troops, Cheng Jiaji thought it would be better to wait until this battle is over. After thinking about it, Cheng Jiaji felt that staying in the Frontline Command Center was the most suitable, as he could understand all the situations through the commander's phone at any time. Of course, the most important thing was that by staying in the Frontline Command Center, he could free up the guard company to participate in the attack. (It is worth noting that General Xie had a reinforced company responsible for his safety. Since Cheng Jiaji was in the Frontline Command Center, his safety as the newly appointed chief of staff would naturally be taken care of by them.)
If it weren't for the previous time at Dawangzhuang, the situation was really too critical, and only Cheng Jiaji's appearance could stabilize it. Cheng Jiaji would not have been so brave and fearless on his first battlefield in his life.
It's good to know that young people in the new era generally cherish their lives. Now with someone else doing the dirty work, it would be even better if he didn't have to show up on the front lines himself. Moreover, in Cheng Jiaji's mind, this night raid was just a prelude, and tomorrow's attack would be the real deal; when that time came, it wouldn't be too late for him to personally brave the hail of arrows and stones to inspire his troops!
However, Cheng Jiashi was still very confident in his deployment. Wen Songyuan's 200th Regiment and the Second Army's temporary regiment formed the Left Route Army, with a total of 2,100 people. Yu Juncai's 199th Regiment and the majority of the Xuzhou Garrison Commander's Independent Regiment formed the Right Route Army, which was also around 2,000 people. Gao Shiqi's reserve team had about 800-900 people
Cheng Jiabi believed that under his own deployment of three routes and night attack, the Japanese army would be very difficult to stop.
On May 5th, at 11 o'clock in the evening, the Chinese army in Taierzhuang launched a surprise night attack on the Japanese army! The password for the attack was "Thunderbolt"!
